Gabriel Moulaison dit Recontre, born in Limoges,
France, in c1685, arrived in Acadia by 1702, the year he fathered a daughter by
Marie, daughter of Olivier Daigre and widow of Pierre Sibilau, at
Port-Royal. Gabriel dit Recontre and Marie did not marry.
Their daughter married into the Henshaw family. In July 1706, at Port-Royal, Gabriel married Marie,
daughter of Julien Aubois
of the Cap-Sable area. They settled at Pobomcoup, today's Pubnico, near
the cape, and had nine children, including four sons, all born at Pobomcoup,
who created
families of their own. Gabriel dit Recontre's daughters by his
legitimate wife married into the Bertrand, Doucet, Mius
d'Entremont, and Viger families.

Oldest son Pierre, born in c1709, married Marie-Josèphe,
daughter of Joseph Doucet, in c1750.

Jacques, born in c1712 (another
source says c1720), married Cécile,
daughter of Ambroise Melanson, at Port-Royal in November 1743.

Joseph married Jeanne, daughter
of Augustin Comeau, probably at Pobomcoup in July 1753.

Youngest son Gabriel, fils, born
in c1724, married Anne-Marie, daughter of Jean-Baptiste Porlier,
probably at Pobomcoup on the same day his older brother Joseph married.

Since the
family was relatively new to Acadia, its members were more or less
together in 1755, on the eve of Le Grand Dérangement. Gabriel, père
was still alive when his sons Joseph and Gabriel, fils married at
Cap-Sable in July 1753, but he probably died soon afterwards, in his late
60s or early 70s, and did not live long enough to accompany
his family into exile.

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Le Grand Dérangement of
the 1750s scattered this family to the winds:

During the first phase of Le Grand Dérangement,
in the spring of 1756, two
English sloops, the Mary and the Vulture, transported
approximately 170 Acadians from the Cap-Sable area to New York and
Massachusetts. The Moulaisons probably
were not among these refugees. They may have made their way to one of the Maritime
islands north of peninsula Acadia, either to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince
Edward Island, or to Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, which in 1755 were areas still controlled by
France. Or, more likely, the family remained at Pobomcoup. No baptismal, marriage, or burial record places any of the Moulaisons
of Cap-Sable on any of the Maritime islands.

The fall of the French
stronghold at Louisbourg on Île Royale in July 1758 changed everything.
In late September 1758, 400 British soldiers disembarked at Cap-Sable to
search for Acadians still in the area. Two sailboats manned by British troops sailed along the shore of the Cap-Sable area "to prevent
the vermin from escaping in canoes," one British officer commented. This time
luck ran out for the Moulaisons of Pobomcoup. The
British burned all of the houses and other buildings in the area to deny the
Acadians shelter and sustenance. In late October, the British embarked
68 Acadians they had captured at Cap-Sable, plus their priest, on the
transport Alexander II. This probably included Moulaisons.
Several families escaped the ruthless Rangers sent out to catch them but
surrendered to British authorities the following summer and were held as
prisoners at Georges Island, Halifax. Meanwhile, the Alexander II sailed
from Cap-Sable to Halifax, which it reached the first week of
November. From Halifax, in December, the British sent the Cap-Sable
Acadians to France with other Acadians from the Maritime islands. The Moulaisons
and their fellow exiles reached Le Havre or Cherbourg, Normandy, in January
1759.

At Cherbourg, Gabriel Moulaison, père's youngest
son, Gabriel, fils, only 36 years old, was buried at Trés-Ste.-Trinité church in March
1760, the same year that a number of his D'Entremont relatives
perished in that city, perhaps in an epidemic. A month later, in April
1760, Gabriel, père's daughter Jeanne, only 30 years old, wife of
Acadian Louis Doucet, was buried at Notre-Dame du Havre in the port
city of Le Havre,
on the other side of Normandy from Cherbourg. But there were moments
for the family to celebrate during their exile in the French ports.
Madeleine, daughter of Jacques Moulaison, now a sailor, and his wife
Cécile Melanson, was baptized at Trés-Ste.-Trinité, age 8 months,
in January 1760, Étienne was born at Cherbourg in February 1763,
Victoire-Marguerite in September 1765, and Jean-Baptiste in January
1770. Caesar Auguste, son of Pierre Moulaison and Marie-Josèphe
Doucet, was born at Le Havre in May 1761 or 1762. Jacques's
daughter Modeste married Ambroise, son of fellow Acadian Charles Bourg
and widower of Anne Pitre, at Cherbourg in July 1763. But
tragedy always lurked in the dark corners of their lives. In February
1769, Jacque's brother Pierre died at Le Havre; he was 60 years old.
Jacques's son Joseph died at Cherbourg, age 16, in December 1770.
Meanwhile, Jacques's sisters Marie-Josèphe, wife of Acadian Joseph Mius d'Entremont,
and Anne, wife of Acadian Francois Viger, were counted at
Cherbourg in 1761. Six years later, in 1767, when Anne was 37, she
was counted again at Cherbourg. By then she had remarried to Simon, son of fellow Cap-Sable Acadian Joseph
Mius d'Entremont and
widower of Marie Amireau, at Cherbourg in September 1763.
Félicité, daughter of Jacques Moulaison, married fellow Acadian
Jean-Baptiste Henry at Le Havre in July 1764. François, son of
Jacques Moulaison, married Frenchwoman Thérèse Quoniam of
Cherbourg in that city in October 1771. The following year, in 1772, Marie-Josèphe, now 62, Jacques, now 60, and Anne, age 42,
were counted again at Cherbourg. In that same year, their sister
Madeleine, age 57, wife of Acadian Jacques Bertrand, was counted at
Le Havre. Francois's daughter Marie-Thérèse-Julie was born at
Cherbourg in October 1772.

During the early 1770s, when French officials attempted to settle Acadians on
a nobleman's land in the Poitou region near the city of Châtellerault, the history record becomes flush with
Cap-Sable Moulaisons. For two long, frustrating years, dozens
of Acadian families from the fetid port cities, eager to escape dependence on French government
handouts, tried to eek a living from the rocky soil around the long line of
houses in the woods of Poitou. By late 1775, however, it was evident
that the venture was a failure. The Acadians in Poitou retreated in
four convoys to the port city of Nantes, where they continued to endure the
frustrations of life in the mother country. Jacques Moulaison and his married son François were
among the Acadians who took their families to Poitou.
François's daughter Thérèse-Adélaïde was born at Archigny, near
Châtellerault, in October
1774. Jacques's older son, Jacques, fils, born probably at Pobomcoup
in c1747,
married Marie-Blanche, daughter of fellow Acadian Paul Doiron and widow
of Bonaventure Thériot and Sylvain Aucoin, at St.-Jean
l'Evangeliste, Châtellerault, in May 1774.
Their
daughter Marie-Rose, called Rose, was born at nearby Cenan in July 1775.
Also with the family in Poitou were Jacques, père's younger sons Pierre, Étienne, and Jean-Baptiste.
Three of Jacques, père's daughters, Luce-Divine, Marie, and Victoire,
also endured the frustrations of the Poitou settlement. When the venture
failed, the family took the first convoy that left Châtellerault for Nantes
in October 1775. Jacques, père
died at L'Hermitage, Chantenay, now part of Nantes, in August 1780, in his
late 60s. Two months later, son Étienne, now a sailor, died at nearby
Paimboeuf; he was only 17 years old. Married sons François and
Jacques, fils made their livings at Nantes as carpenters and
seamen.

In the early 1780s, the Spanish
government offered the Acadians in France the chance for a new life in faraway Louisiana.
François Moulaison and his French wife remained in the mother country, as did
younger brother Pierre, who had married Marguerite, daughter of fellow
Acadian Jean Granger, at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay, in July 1784. And so
did their widowed mother, Cécile Melanson, who died at Nantes in
January 1796. But two families of Cap-Sable Moulaisons took up
the Spanish offer and sailed to Louisiana aboard three of the Seven
Ships.

LOUISIANA: RIVER
SETTLEMENTS

Some of the Moulaisons who
came to Louisiana from France in 1785 settled in river communities, where
their name evolved into Molaison:

Jacques Molaison, fils, age 38, wife Marie-Blanche Doiron,
age 41, and three of their children--Marie-Rose, called Rose, age 10, Marie-Sophie, called
Sophie, age 9, and Jacques III, age 6--crossed on Le
Beaumont, the third of the Seven Ships from France, which reached New Orleans in August. They
followed most of the passengers from their ship to the Baton
Rouge area. Rose
married Louis-François, son of fellow Acadian François Daigle,
at Baton Rouge in July 1790; Louis-François also had come to Louisiana
aboard Le Beaumont. Sophie married Pierre, son of
fellow Acadian Charles Broussard, at Baton
Rouge in March 1794; Pierre had come to Louisiana aboard Le
Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships. Jacques, fils remained at Baton Rouge, where he died
in July 1812, in his mid-60s. He and Marie-Blanche
had no more children in Louisiana, so their only son, Jacques III, carried
on the line in what became West Baton Rouge Parish.

Marie-Modeste, 40-year-old daughter of Jacques Molaison
and sister of Jacques, fils, crossed on La Ville d'Archangel,
the sixth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in early December.
With
her were husband Ambroise Bourg, age 53, two sons, ages 8 and 1, and seven
daughters, ages 20 to 2. Marie-Modeste, Ambroise, and their large
family followed the majority of the passengers from their ship to the new
Acadian community of Bayou des Écores, north of Baton Rouge. Ambroise died not long after they
reached Louisiana, and Marie-Modeste remarried to
Joseph-Constans, son of fellow Acadian Joseph Granger, probably at
Bayou des Écores in July 1790. Joseph-Constans also had come to
Louisiana aboard La Ville d'Archangel. Marie-Modeste's
Bourg children settled in the Baton Rouge area.

Jacques III, son of Jacques
Molaison, fils and Marie-Blanche Doiron, born at Nantes,
France, in May 1779, followed his family to Louisiana aboard Le Beaumont and settled
with them at Baton Rouge, where he married Céleste-Renée, daughter of French nobleman Félix-Gilles-Louis Bernard
du Montier, in May 1807. Céleste's father was a veteran
of the American Revolution; her mother, Marie-Victoire Bourg,
was daughter of Acadian Antoine Bourg and his second wife, Marie-Modeste Molaison, so
Jacques III and Céleste were cousins. Céleste gave Jacques III over a
dozen children, at
least nine of them sons. Their
daughters married into the Daigle and Gras families. Economically, Jacques III did very
well during the antebellum period perhaps because of the wealth and
influence of his in-laws. In August 1850,
the federal census taker in West Baton Rouge Parish counted 50 slaves--21
males and 29 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 50
years to 3 months--on Jacques Molaison's plantation. Jacques III, like his father, lived to a ripe old age. He was buried in
the family tomb at Brusly Landing, West Baton Rouge Parish, in December
1854; he was 75 years and one of the last Acadian
immigrants in Louisiana to join our ancestors.
One wonders what happened to all of his slaves after his death; none of his
sons appear as slaveholders in the federal census of 1860.

1

Oldest son Jacob or Jacques Félix,
also called
Jacques, fils, born near Baton Rouge in December 1811, married Irma, daughter of
fellow Acadian
Pierre Foret, at the Baton Rouge church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in January 1835. Their
son Dorville was born probably in West Baton Rouge Parish in December
1835, and Jacques Joseph Osward in July 1846.

2

Agricole Prudent, called Prudent,
born in West Baton Rouge Parish in October 1816, married Marie, daughter of
French Creole Bernard Peyronnin, at
the Baton Rouge church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in April 1837. Their daughter married into the Broussard
family. Prudent died in West Baton Rouge Parish in July 1838, soon after
his marriage; he was only 21 years old. He probably had no sons, so
this line of the family, except for its blood, died with him. In
August 1850, Prudent's remains
were moved to a new family tomb at Brusly Landing, West Baton Rouge
Parish.

3

Jules Augustave, baptized at
the St. Gabriel church, Iberville Parish, age unrecorded, in May 1820,
married cousin and fellow Acadian Elisa or Elise Dupuis at the Baton Rouge
church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in October 1838; they had to secure a
dispensation for third degree of relationship in order to marry. Their son Jules was born probably in
West Baton Rouge Parish in January 1840, and Joseph George in
December 1847.

4

Théodule Gil, born in West
Baton Rouge Parish in
November 1820,
married Victorine, daughter of fellow Acadian Narcisse Landry, at the Baton Rouge
church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in November 1843. Their son Odon was born in West Baton
Rouge Parish in December 1845, Numa Amédée in December 1848, and Joseph Théophile in June
1854. In August 1850, the federal census taker in West Baton Rouge
Parish counted 2 slaves--a 25-year-old male, and a 16-year-old female, both
blacks--on T. Molaison's farm. Théodule died near Brusly, West Baton Rouge Parish, in September 1857; he was only 36
years old.

5

Théophile Bernard, born in
West Baton Rouge Parish in
May 1823, died in West Baton Rouge Parish in May 1850. He was only 27
years old and probably did not marry.

6

Paul, born probably in West
Baton Rouge Parish in the early 1820s, married fellow Acadian Hélène Marie Babin,
probably in the mid- to late
1840s. Their son William Paul was born near Brusly, West Baton Rouge Parish,
in 1849.

7

Alexandre was born in West
Baton Rouge Parish in
December 1829 but
died at age 2 in September 1831.

8

Léon was born in West Baton
Rouge Parish in April 1832 and probably died young.

9

Youngest son Numa was born
in West Baton Rouge Parish in February 1836 and probably died young.

LOUISIANA: LAFOURCHE
VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

Some of the Moulaisons who
came to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to go to upper Bayou Lafourche,
where their name was spelled Molaison.

Marie-Josèphe Doucet,
age 60, widow of Pierre Molaison, and her unmarried son, Joseph Molaison,
age 30, a sailor like his uncle Jacques, crossed on L'Amitié, the
fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.
Marie-Josèphe did not remarry. Although Joseph had fewer sons
than his cousin Jacques III of West Baton Rouge Parish, Joseph's sons and grandsons were more successful in
carrying on the name in the Bayou State. His descendants settled in
the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou Terrebonne valley from Assumption Parish down to
the coastal marshes of Lafourche and Terrebonne:

Descendants of Joseph
MOLAISON (c1755-c1815; Gabriel dit Recontre)

Joseph, son of Pierre Molaison
and Marie-Josèphe Doucet, born probably at Pobomcoup, Nova
Scotia, in c1755, followed his parents into exile in France and came to
Louisiana with his widowed mother aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the
Seven Ships from France, in 1785. Joseph settled with his mother on
upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Marie-Marguerite-Pélagie,
daughter of fellow Acadian Alexis Gautreaux, in June 1786.
Marie was a native of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, and also had come to
Louisiana aboard L'Amitié. Their daughters married into the Clouâtre,
Dechamps, D'Hué, Ledet, and Pitre families. Most of the Acadian Molaisons
of Louisiana are descended from three of Joseph's sons. Three of his
daughters and one of his sons were baptized at New
Orleans in the 1790s, so the family resided in the city (one
wonders why), but Joseph returned to the upper bayou.
His belongings were inventoried and recorded
at the Thibodauxville courthouse, Lafourche Interior Parish, in March 1815; he would have been 60 years old that year.

1

Oldest son Pierre, born at
Lafourche in c1788,
married Marie Louise, daughter of fellow Acadian Guillaume Bénoni Hébert,
at the Plattenville church, Assumption
Parish, in September 1809. Their son Pierre Joseph, called Joseph,
was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1812, Evariste in July 1820, Pierre Melius,
also called Pierre, fils, in July 1826, Joseph Adrien, called Adrien,
in
February 1828, and Joachim in c1830 but died at age 4 in June
1834. Their daughters married into the Chiasson and D'Hué
families. Pierre, père
died in
Lafourche Parish in June 1858; he was 70 years old.

1a

Joseph married Marie Azélie, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian
Valéry Bourgeois,at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in October
1832. Their son Joseph Elphége was born in Lafourche Interior
Parish in April 1838, Joseph Adrien le jeune in June 1843, and
Lovency in April 1848. Their daughters married into the Boudreaux, Giroir,
LeBlanc, and Part families. Joseph died in
Lafourche Interior Parish in November 1852; he was only 40 years old.

Joseph Elphége or Joseph Adrien le jeune may have married Marie Alzire, called
Alzire, Alzina, and also Marcelline, Lefort and settled near
Lockport, Lafourche Parish, by the early 1860s.

1b

Evariste married Adeline, 14-year-old daughter of
Nicolas Laine, Laisne,or Lene, at the
Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in May 1841; Adeline's mother was a Doucet.
Their son Jules Homer was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in
February 1843, Evariste Justilien, called Justilien, in
December 1844, Eusèbe Adrien in October 1848, and Joseph Léo
or Léo Joseph in June 1857 but died at age 18 months in November
1858.

During the War of 1861, Jules
served in Company I of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish,
which fought at Vicksburg,
Mississippi. After he was captured at Vicksburg, he may have
served with Company D of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery at
Mobile, Alabama, from which he went absent without leave in January 1865. Jules married Aglae Bruse
and settled near Lockport, Lafourche Parish.

During the War of 1861, Justilien
served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana
Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Justilien married Elmire, daughter of
fellow Acadian Arsène Naquin, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Parish, in July 1865. The settled near the boundary between
Lafourche and Assumption parishes.

1c

Pierre, fils married Phelonise
daughter of
fellow Acadian François Doucet, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in May 1848, and remarried
to Azema, Rosanna, Rosema, or Rosina, daughter of fellow Acadian Hippolyte Hébert,
at the Thibodaux church in April 1857. Their son Augustin Oscar
was born in Lafourche Parish in August 1858, Henri France in
September 1860, and Pierre III in April 1864. By 1866, Pierre, fils
and Rosema were living near Vacherie, St. James Parish, on the river.

1d

Adrien married Zéolide, daughter of German Creole Drosin Toups, at the Thibodaux
church, Lafourche Parish, in May 1855. Their son Adrien Léon was born in Lafourche
Parish in October 1857, and Henri in May 1859.

2

Joseph, fils, born at
Lafourche in
c1789, married Adélaïde
Constance, called Constance, daughter of fellow Acadian
Alexis Lejeune, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1812.
Their son Joseph Marcellus,
called Marcellus, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1821, Jean
Baptiste or Evariste, called Evariste, in October 1823, Michel Raphaël in March 1828, Baptiste Augustin
or Auguste, called Augustin, in January 1831, and Alexis Joseph or J. Alexis in December
1832. They also had a son named P. Onésime, called Onésime.
Their daughters married into the Folse family. Joseph, fils died in Lafourche Interior Parish in May 1842; he was
only 54
years old; his succession inventories were filed at the
Houma courthouse, Terrebonne Parish, in May and November 1859, years after
his death.

2a

Evariste married Julie Arthémise, 19-year-old daughter of
fellow Acadian Jean Pierre Pitre, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in May
1844, and sanctified the marriage at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in July 1848. Their son Henry
Philemon was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1848.
Their daughters married into the LeBlanc family.

2b

Marcellus died in Lafourche Interior Parish in July
1843. The Thibodaux priest who recorded his burial said that Marcellus
was 25 years old when he died, but he was only 22. Marcellus did not marry.

2c

Michel Raphaël married Carmelite, another
daughter of Jean Pierre Pitre, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in April
1851. Their son Augustin was born in Lafourche Parish in June
1854. Their daughter married into the Robichaux family.
Michel Raphaël died in Lafourche Parish in June 1855; he was only 27 years
old; his succession inventory was filed at the Houma courthouse, Terrebonne
Parish, in March 1856.

2d

During the War of 1861, Augustin
served in Company D of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish,
which fought at Vicksburg,
Mississippi. He was captured at Vicksburg, paroled, exchanged with
his unit, and survived the war.

2e

Onésime married Aglae, daughter of
French Creole Urbain Adam and widow of Aurelien Robichaux,
at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1867.

3

Jean-Amable, born at New
Orleans in August 1796, probably died young.

4

Youngest son Jean-Baptiste,
born at Assumption in June 1805,
married Marie Émilie, also called Eulalie and Marie Melite, 14-year-old daughter of
fellow Acadian Joseph LeBlanc of St. James Parish, at the Thibodauxville
church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in January 1830. Their son Joachim Guillaume
was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in May 1832, Jean Baptiste Freguis
in April 1833, Paul Justin in March 1835, Joseph le jeune in
September 1837, and Evariste Émile in July 1839. Their
daughters married into the Guidry, Lapeyrouse, and Rivet
families. Jean Baptiste remarried to fellow Acadian Marie Breaux
probably in the 1840s. Their daughter
married into the Pitre family. Jean Baptiste died by November
1868, when he was listed as deceased in a daughter's marriage
record.

4a

Jean Baptiste
Freguis died in Lafourche Parish in February 1854. He was only 21 years old
and did not marry.

4b

Evariste Émile married Odelia, daughter of fellow Acadian
Louis Hébert,
at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1862. Their son Joseph Arthur,
called Arthur, was born in Lafourche Parish in October 1868 but died
at age 1 in September 1869.

4c

Joseph le jeune may have married
Marie Alzire, called Alzire and also Marcelline, Lefort in
Lafourche Parish in the early 1860s.

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in
LOUISIANA

South Louisiana church records
reveal no non-Acadian Molaisons settling in Louisiana during the
colonial period. During the early antebellum period, however,
non-Acadians with the name, probably Foreign French, appeared at New
Orleans. Also, a large family of French Basques
came to Louisiana from the Pyrénées region of southern France and settled
west of the Atchafalaya Basin. Their surname, Monlezun, is pronounced much
like Molaison. Very few of them married Acadians:

Descendants of Dominique
MONLEZUN (?-?)

At least three sons of Dominique Monlezun
and Marie Maihles of Lalaunce, Department of Hautes-Pyrénées,
France, settled in Louisiana:

1

Antoine married Jeanne, daughter of Cadet Loustaueau or Loustaunais
of the Department of Basse-Pyrénées, France, at the New Iberia church,
then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in December 1847. Their son Henri
was born near New Iberia in January 1849.

Henri married Aimée Guex
probably in the 1870s. Their son
John Berchman was born near Washington, St. Landry Parish, in May
1883.

2

Paschal, born at Tarbe,
France, in October 1832, married Bernadine Abbadie probably in St.
Landry Parish the late 1850s.
Their son Pascal, fils was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish,
in January 1862. They settled in Lafayette Parish and then moved to
the Rayne area, then in St. Landry but now Acadia Parish. Their daughters married into the Adam,
Baronnet, Bordes, Delacroix, Haure, Murray,
and Villa families. Daughter Marie gave birth to son Dominique
near Rayne in August 1880; the priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not
name the father.

Pascal, fils married
German Immigrant Linie, Livie, Livinia, or
Lucie Plattsmeir in a civil ceremony in Acadia Parish in September
1888.

3

Dominique, fils, born at Tarbe, France, in April 1845,
married Louise Thomassine Peterson, also called Louise MacCarthy,
at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in June 1874. Their
son Joachim Isidore was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in
January 1876, Paul Émile in November 1877, Théodore in
November 1879, and Antoine near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in
March 1882. Dominique, fils remarried to Acadian Julie Broussard
at the Jennings church, then in Calcasieu but now in Jefferson Davis Parish, in December 1900, or this
Dominque may have been a son of Dominique, fils.

.

J. Monlezan, a 28-year-old
clerk from Villimbits, Haute-Garonne, France, reached New Orleans aboard the
ship Cardinal de Cheveruse out of Bordeaux, France, in February 1839.
Was he kin to Dominique Monlezun?

P. Monlezun, a 34-year-old
"traveller" from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Amerika
out of Bordeaux in May 1842.

J. B., probably Jean-Baptiste,
-Placide Monlezien, a 19-year-old laborer from France, reached New
Orleans aboard the ship Spartan out of Bordeaux in December 1849.

François Monlezun, probably
a kinsman of Antoine et al., married Louise Urbine Lagrange. Their son Alexandre
married Virginie Jean Marie or Naure, widow of
____ Valette, at the New Iberia church, Iberia Parish, in April 1871. Their son
Lawrence was born near New Iberia in August 1879.

Evariste Monlezun, probably
a kinsman of Antoine et al., married Acadian Odelia Hébert. Their son Camille
married Emma, daughter of German Creole Gabriel Zeringue,at the
Franklin church, St. Mary Parish, in March 1894. Evariste's
daughters and Camille's sisters married into the Brems or Brenn, Champagne, Edgerly,
and Zeringue families.

Fernand Monlezun, probably
a kinsman of Antoine et al., married Amelia Robert. Their son Albert
married Rita Sanguinette at the Charenton church, St. Mary Parish, in
May 1895.

Joseph Monlezun, probably a
kinsman of Antoine et al., married Marie Alzina Lefort. They settled near
Rayne, Acadia Parish. Their daughter married
into the Smith family.

~

Molaisons, some
of them perhaps Acadians from the Baton Rouge area, lived in New Orleans
during the late antebellum period and held slaves:

In August 1850, the federal census
taker in Ward 4 of Municipality 1, Orleans Parish, counted 2 slaves--a
45-year-old male and a 40-year-old female, both black--in Widow Molaison's
household. The census taker, in Ward 5 of
Municipality 1, Orleans Parish, counted 5 slaves--1 male and 4 females, all
black, ranging in age from 30 to 1--in another Widow Molaison's
household,
and 3 slaves--all male, all black, ages 42, 39, and 37--in the household of
yet another Widow Molaison in the same ward. That same month,
the census taker in Ward 2 of Municipality 3, Orleans Parish, counted a
single slave--a 50-year-old black female--in J. Molaison's household.
The census taker in Ward 3 of Municipality 3, in early
September, counted 5 slaves--3 males, 2 females, all black, ranging in age
from 35 to 7--in Jacques Molaison's household.

Moulaisons settled fairly
late in Acadia, and they came "late" to Louisiana, where they name
evolved into Molaison. They were among
the hand full of families who lived at Pobomcoup, now Pubnico, Nova Scotia, near Cap-Sable, at the
southwestern tip of the peninsula. When the British rounded up the
Acadians at Chignecto, Minas, and Annapolis Royal during the fall of 1755,
they did not get around to the Acadians at Cap-Sable until early 1756. The
Molaisons eluded the redcoats, but their respite from British oppression
was short-lived. After the fall of the French fortress at Louisbourg
in July 1758, the victorious British returned to Pobomcoup and deported
the Moulaisons and other Cap-Sable Acadians to France.

If the Spanish government had not
coaxed over 1,500 Acadians in France to emigrate to their Louisiana colony, there would
be no Moulaisons/Molaisons in the Bayou State today, at least none who were
descendants of Acadians. All of the Acadian Molaisons of
South Louisiana descend from first cousins Jacques III and Joseph, both of whom came
to the colony from France in 1785. Jacques III married the daughter of
a French nobleman, and their descendants remained
in what became West Baton Rouge Parish. Joseph married a fellow
Acadian, and their descendants settled in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou
Terrebonne valley
from Assumption Parish down to the coastal marshes of Lafourche and
Terrebonne parishes.

Jacques III was still alive in
1850 when a federal census taker counted 50 slaves on his plantation near
Brusly Landing. The only other Molaisons who held slaves in
Louisiana that year lived in New Orleans. None of Jacques III's
cousins in the Lafourche valley held slaves during the late antebellum
period, at least none who appeared in the
federal census schedules of 1850 and 1860, so they likely were petit habitants
who participated only peripherally in the South's antebellum plantation
economy.

A number of Acadian Molaisons
served Louisiana in uniform during the War Between the States. Several
of them, all from the Lafourche valley, served with the 26th Regiment
Louisiana Infantry at Vicksburg. Extant service records reveal no
member of the family losing his life in Confederate service.

The Molaisons lived in
areas of South Louisiana that were especially hard hit by the War Between
the States. Early in
the war, successive Federal incursions devastated the Bayou Lafourche
valley, and Confederate foragers also plagued the area when the Federals
were not around. Even before Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went
into effect in January 1863, Federal commands controlling the lower
Mississippi freed the slaves on every farm and plantation that their forces could
reach. This would have included the Molaison plantation in West Baton
Rouge Parish. Union navy gunboats shelled and burned dozens of
plantation houses along the river, perhaps including the Molaison's.
...

The family's name also is spelled Mailaison,
Molaisson, Molaizon,
Moleçons, Molesan, Moleson, Molezon, Molison, Mollaison, Moloison, Moulezon,
Moulizot, Oulizon. This Acadian family should not be confused with the
Monlezuns, who were French Basques, not Acadians. The
Monlezuns did not come to Louisiana until the early antebellum period
and settled on the western prairies, where no Molaisons settled.

For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early
1800s,
see Appendix.

The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian
immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective
on the refugee's place in family and community.

01.Wall of Names,
34 (pl. 8R), calls him Jacques MOULAISON, & lists him with his wife
& 3 children; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault,
79-80, Family No. 156, calls him Jacques MOULAISON, says he was born c1747
but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, says he was a seaman
& carpenter, details his marriage, including his wife's parents' &
previous husbands' names, says that at the time of the marriage he was
"resident of the parish of St. Jean L'Evangeliste of
Châtellerault," provides the birth/baptismal record of daughter Rose,
baptized 21 Jul 1775, Cenan, Vienne, goddaughter of Étienne MOULAISON (his
brother) & Adélïde DOIRON, & details the family's participation in
the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 134, Family No.
244, calls him Jacques MOULAISON, says he was born c1747 but gives no
birthplace, gives his parents' names, says he was a carpenter & seaman,
details his marriage, including his wife's parents' & previous husbands'
names, includes the birth/baptismal records of daughter Marie-Sophie, born
& baptized 25 Dec 1776, St.-Nicolas, Nantes, but gives no godparents'
names, & son Jacques, born 27 May 1779, baptized 28 May 1779,
St.-Nicolas, Nantes, but gives no godparents' names, & details the
family's participation in the Poitou settlement of the
early 1770s as well as their voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian
Families in Exile 1785, 38-39, calls him Jacques MOULAISON, charpentier,
age 38, on the embarkation list, Santiage MOULAISON, on the debarkation
list, & Jacques MOULAISON, carpenter, age 38, on the complete listing,
says he was in the 31st Family on the embarkation list & in the 32nd
Family on the debarkation list of Le Beaumont with his wife & 3
children, details his marriage, including his & his wife's parent's
names but does not give the place of marriage, & says daughter Rose
MOULAISON was born in 1775 but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 3:641
(SJO-4, 65), his death/burial record, calls him Jacque MOLAISON, age 77
yrs., married, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife. See also Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 505, 527.

02.Wall of Names,
34 (pl. 8R), calls him Jacques [MOULAISON], & lists him with his parents
& 2 sisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 134, Family No. 244,
his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jacques MOULAISON, does not give his
godparents' names, & details the family's voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert,
D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 38-39, calls him Jacques, son
[Jacques MOULAISON's] fils, age 6, on the embarkation list, Santiage,
su [Santiage MOULAISON's] hijo, on the debarkation list, &
Jacques MOULAISON, his [Jacques MOULAISON's] son, age 6, on the complete
listing, & says he was in the 31st Family on the embarkation list &
the 32nd Family on the debarkation list of Le Beaumont with his
paernts & 2 sister; BRDR, 3:642 (SJO-3, 60), his
marriage record, calls him Santiago MOLAIZON, gives & his wife's
parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Thomas LOSADA
& Mr. BERNARD; BRDR, 8:427 (SJB, Brusly-4, 59), his death/burial
record, calls him Jacques MOLAISON, age 76 yrs., native Nantes, Bretagne,
France. See also Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century
Louisianians, 505, 527.

The movements of his family can be found in the
baptismal records of his many children in BRDR, vols. 3, 4,
& 5(rev.). Compared to other Acadian families, they did not move
far. They settled first on the east side of the river in the old Baton
Rouge District & then moved a few miles down to St.-Gabriel before moving back
upriver to the west side, near Brusly Landing in West Baton Rouge Parish,
establishing a Baton Rouge-area branch of the MOLAISON family.

He was one of the last Acadian immigrants in LA to join our
ancestors.

03.Wall of Names,
41, calls him Joseph MOULAISON; BRDR, 2:320, 536 (ASC-2, 3), his
marriage record, calls him Joseph MELANÇON[sic] & places him in
that family's section, does not give his or his wife's parents' names, &
says the witness to his marriage was Marie COMMO; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:398
(Thib.Ct.Hse.: Succ.: Year 1815), his inventory record, calls him Joseph
MOLAISON m. Marie GAUTROS, but does not give his parents' names or the
names of his children. See
also
Robichaux, Bayou
Lafourche, 1770-98, 33, 65, 102, 122, 165; Robichaux, LA Census & Militia Lists,
1770-89, 129.

His birth year is based not on the age given in the passenger list of L'Amitié,
which would give him an estimated birth year of c1740, but on a compromise of the ages given in the
LA censuses in which he is found, which give him estimated birth years
ranging from c1748 to c1756.

The baptismal record of son Jean-Amable, dated 16 Oct 1792,
in NOAR, 6:198 (SLC, B14, 15), calls Joseph "native of Havre de
Grace," which was Le Havre. The baptismal record of daughter Ursule,
however, dated 9 May 1799, in NOAR, 6:198 (SLC, B14, 89), says he was
"native of Acadia." The marriage record of son Joseph, fils, dated 12
Apr 1812, in BRDR, 3:641 (ASM-2, 191), says that Joseph, père
& his wife Maria GAUTRAUX were "of Havre de Grace." What
does this mean? That they both lived there at one time? Joseph's
family did not reach France until early 1759, so he was born in Acadia.

The Acadian Memorial spells his surname MOULAISON. He
is Figure #14 on the Dafford Mural, the man kneeling beside Anselme
BLANCHARD.

04.Wall of Names,
45, calls her Marie-Modeste MOULAISON; BRDR, 2:333, 550 (PCP-19, 34),
the record of her second marriage, calls her Marie Modeste MOLESON "of Québec, Canada,
& widow of Ambroise BOURG," gives her
husband's but not her parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were
Louis DAIGLE & Jacques MOLESON [probably her uncle].

Although her marriage was recorded at Pointe Coupée, it probably took place at either Bayou des Écores, which never had
its own church, or in the Baton Rouge District, which did not have its own
church until 1793. Pointe Coupée priests administered the sacraments across the river at Bayou des Écores
& downriver at Baton Rouge until it got its own church.

05.Wall of Names,
34 (pl. 8R), calls her Rose [MOULAISON], & lists her with her parents
& 2 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 79-80, Family
No. 156, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Rose MOULAISON, says her
godparents were Étienne MOULAISON (her uncle) & Adélaïde DOIRON,
& details the family's participation in the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 134,
Family No. 244, calls her Rose [MOULAISON], & details the family's
participation in the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s
as well as its voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in
Exile 1785, 38-39, calls her Rose, sa [Jacques MOULAISON's] fille,
age 10, on the embarkation list, Rosa, su [Santiago MOULAISON's] hija,
on the debarkation list, & Rose MOULAISON, his [Jacques MOULAISON's]
daughter, age 10, on the complete listing, says she was in the 31st Family
on the embarkation list & the 32nd Family on the debarkation list of Le
Beaumont with her parents & 2 siblings, &, calling her Rose
MOULAISON, says she was born in 1775 but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 2:216, 550 (PCP-19, 35), her
marriage record, calls her Marie-Rose MOLESON of Poitou, gives her & her
husband's parents' names, says her husband was from Normandy, & that the
witnesses to her marriage were Joseph VAHAMORNDE & Charles BROUSSARD; BRDR,
5(rev.):452 (SJO-11, 37), her death/burial record, omits her name but says
she was age 54 yrs. wife of Louis DAIGLE. See also Voorhies, J., Some
Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 505, 527.

Although her marriage was recorded at Pointe Coupée, it probably took place in the Baton Rouge
District, where she & her family settled. Baton Rouge did not have its
own church until 1793, so priests from Pointe Coupée administered the
sacraments in the Baton Rouge District until it did.

06.Wall of Names,
34 (pl. 8R), calls her Sophie [MOULAISON], & lists her with her parents
& 2 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 134, Family No. 244,
her birth/baptismal record, calls her Marie-Sophie MOULAISON, does not give
her godparents' names, &, calling her Sophie, details the family's
voyage to LA in 1785; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785,
38-39, calls her Sophie, sa [Jacques MOULAISON's] fille, age
9, on the embarkation list, Sofia, su [Santiago MOULAISON's] hija,
on the debarkation list, & Sophie MOULAISON, his [Jacques MOULAISON's]
daughter, age 9, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 31st
Family on the embarkation list & the 32nd Family on the debarkation list
of Le Beaumont with her parents & 2 siblings; BRDR, 2:163, 550 (SJO-3, 5), her
marriage record, calls her Maria Sophia MOULAISON, gives her & her
husband's parents' names, says her parents were from Nantes, France, &
his parents were from "Charbour, France, & that the witnesses to
her marriage were Baptiste BOUSEL & Pedro BLANCO. See also
Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 505,
527.